Blue Jeans (song)
|DS = |album = Born to Die |previous = "Off to the Races" |next = "Video Games" }} "Blue Jeans" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey for her second studio album Born to Die (2012). It was released on April 8, 2012, by Interscope Records as the third single from the record. Produced by Emile Haynie, the song was written by Del Rey, Haynie, and Dan Heath. It is a downtempo ballad with hip hop influences. A controversial performance of the song on SNL placed Del Rey under scrutiny and polarized opinion. Charting across Europe and Asia, "Blue Jeans" reached the top 10 in Belgium, Poland, and Israel. Two music videos were created for the song. The first was self-produced. The second was shot and directed by Yoann Lemoine, featuring film noir elements and crocodiles. Background and composition Originally put out as a double A-side with her debut song, "Video Games", it was also put as a B-side to the title track and second single, "Born to Die". It was later released as the third official single from Born to Die. Official remixes of "Blue Jeans" include ones by D/R/U/G/S, Blood Orange, Kris Menace, and RAC.3 "Blue Jeans" is a trip hop ballad; Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone''labelled the song a trip hop version of ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" (1983).4 Over surf rock guitar twangs,56 Del Rey sings, "Love is mean and love hurts/ But I still remember that day we met in December". Low fidelity string instruments soar over the refrain, as Del Rey belts: "I will love you till the end of time."3 During a fit of PDA with her fictional boyfriend, Del Rey sings, "You went out every night/ And baby, that's alright/ I told you that no matter what you did I'd be by your side."7The song was influenced by hip hop and has a minimalist beat that recalls songs by Timbaland.2 Lines such as "I grew up on hip hop." confirm the assertion.2 Critical reception ''Slant Magazine said that Del Rey "uses her impressive range to dazzling effect on, "Blue Jeans", comparing her delinquent lover to both cancer and her favorite sweater in what seems like one swooning breath".http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/lana-del-rey-born-to-die/2720 NME said that "Blue Jeans' lush Chris Isaakshades shimmer like sea-spume on Helena Christensen’s naked thighs as Del Rey longs for her James Dean".http://www.nme.com/reviews/lana-del-rey/12692 Sputnikmusic stated that it's reminiscent of the music in Quentin Tarantino's films and named it one of the best song on the album.http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/47721/Lana-Del-Rey-Born-to-Die/ Beats Per Minute said that “Blue Jeans would probably be described by Del Rey as “gangsta spaghetti western,” but, aside from its most basic of forced rhymes (“‘Cause I’mma ride or die / Whether you fail or fly / Well shit at least you tried”), it is still a clever spin on genre, sounding unique, even inspired".http://beatsperminute.com/reviews/album-review-lana-del-rey-born-to-die/ DOA magazine said that "The lyrics-centric story-telling “Blue Jeans” slows it down a bit with a deliberate, but swinging beat as Lana delves into a relationship where the guy is a “Big dreams / gangsta…” and the girl wants him to stop living that lifestyle. Midway into the song the pace speeds up and Lana crams in a lot of lyrics, keeping the rhymes tight and the emotions high, until it dissipates into a dreamy chorus with Lana proclaiming “I will love you till the end of time".http://www.adequacy.net/2012/02/lana-del-rey-born-to-die/ No Ripcord said that "Just like in the dark ballad Blue Jeans, Del Rey sounds more comfortable when she tries to perform as a tough songstress".http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/lana-del-rey/born-die Music OMH said that "Video Games and Blue Jeans, despite suffering Adele style levels of ubiquity in recent months, still sound achingly beautiful, both of them sounding like the saddest love songs ever written".http://www.musicomh.com/albums/lana-del-rey_0112.htm Consequence of Sound said that “Blue Jeans and “Video Games” inextricably link Del Rey’s flaxen locks with starry-eyed classical instruments, providing the aural and visual irresistibility of a good montage".http://consequenceofsound.net/2012/01/album-review-lana-del-rey-born-to-die/ Commercial performance Certifications Awards Blue Jeans ''was nominated in 2012 UK Music Video Awards on the cathegories ''Best Cinematography On A Video'' and ''Best Pop Video - International''. http://www.ukmva.com/user/docs/UKMVAs_2012_Nominations_PR.pdf Official versions *Album version 3:30 *Video Games/Blue Jeans single version 3:31 *Remastered version 3:34 *Radio edit 3:52 *Demo version 2:14 *Original video version 3:58 *Second video version with string introduction 4:21 Remixes *Alpines Remix 4:04 *Blood Orange Remix 3:31 *Club Clique 'Nothing Is Real' Remix 4:11 *D/R/U/G/S Remix 4:29 *Gesaffelstein Remix 4:35 *Kris Menace Remix 6:41 *Maribou State Remix 5:20 *MK Dark Blue Dub 6:17 *Moonlight Matters Remix 6:22 *Odd Future's the Internet Mix 4:00 *Omid 16B Remix 6:32 *Omid 16B Dub 4:15 *Omid 16B Club Mix 7:56 *Omid 16B Club Reprise 4:13 *Penguin Prison Remix 5:37 *RAC Mix 3:38 *Smims & Belle Remix (feat. Azealia Banks) 3:01 Commercial release Blue Jeans was originally released as the B-side on Lana's first single ,"Video Games". Please look at its article for the releases it was included on. Physical releases United Kingdom (BLUEJ02) (Promotional) United Kingdom (Promotional) United Kingdom (3700310) France (371 080-6) France (371 080-7) ;Side A ;Side B (33RPM) Digital releases Worldwide (Promotional) Worldwide (Promotional) United Kingdom (Promotional) Worldwide (Promotional) Music video Video #1 Background The song was released as a double-A side with "Video Games", which had received a video treatment with Lana's previous style of combining webcam clips and older film bits. Stranger Records, who released the single, also asked Lana to film a video for Blue Jeans in a similar fashion. Description Lana shot this version of "Blue Jeans" on July 22, 2011 in concurrence with the various ''Born to Die promotional photoshoots and album photoshoot done with Nicole Nodland. The clips of Lana were shot in Miami, Florida. The clips used show places such as Las Vegas, Nevada and San Francisco, California. The video was posted September 9, 2011. The video contains various shots of Lana in multiple outfits, interlaced with her traditional film noir clips. Scene #1 The video begins with a clip of Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading The Lord's Prayer from the film The Last Waltz. It primarily contains various shots of Lana in a white sweater, primarily in black & white. It also shows her in highly desaturated shots sitting in a truck. Very small clips taken from her older videos shot for Lana Del Ray are shown, as well as short clips of her behind-the-scenes of the photoshoots with both photographers Michael Hemy and Heinz Peter Knes. Clips of various locations and people such as Las Vegas strip, rapper Tupac Shakur, and skateboarders are interlaced in between the various shots of Lana. V1-1.jpg V1-2.jpg V1-3.jpg Nicole Nodland 7 1.jpg Nicole Nodland 6 5.jpg Scene #2 Relatively late into the song, the video of Lana focuses on the part of her photoshoot with Nicole Nodland that would later be used as the album cover for Born to Die. The video ends with the song fading into The Sword of Truth, a song by Justin Bianco, and clips of Super-8 camera shots of San Francisco, California. V1-4.jpg LANA DEL REY-BLUE JEANS 370.jpg Nicole Nodland 10 10.jpg Video #2 Background Upon official release of Blue Jeans as a single, Interscope commissioned Yoann Lemoine, who had previously directed the video for "Born to Die" to shoot a new video for the song. Description The video completes the K trilogy, starting with "Video Games" and "Born to Die". The video was shot in black & white, and remains the only video of Lana's to be so. The video was shot in March, 2012. It was leaked 3 days before it was officially released, slightly edited, on March 16, 2012. The official version premiered on March 19, 2012. Scene #1 (Reflection) The video begins with an orchestral opening of Blue Jeans featuring violins. Lana is shown blurred on a black water reflection, and she herself ripples as the camera slowly zooms in. BJ2-2.jpg BJB1.jpg| Scene #2 (Poolside) The video cuts to black for a second before the actual song begins. Bradley Soileau is shown smoking by a pool, next to a 50's-style home and palm trees. Lana is shown on the ground, and wakes up with the beginning of her singing. She is then shown to be inside the home, looking out upon Bradley. The camera alternates between up-close shots of her and Bradley removing his clothing. During the chorus, the video cuts back to showing her laying poolside singing, while Bradley caresses her and puts his index and middle finger into her mouth. He begins to splash water from the pool onto himself and dives into the pool while Lana remains poolside. BJ2-3.jpg BJ2-4.jpg BJ2-5.jpg BJ2-6.jpg BJP8.jpg Scene #3 (Entering) With the beginning of the second verse, a slightly submerged shot shows Lana entering the pool. Short shots of Bradley and an albino crocodile are shown while she submerges with a hesitant look. BJ2-7.jpg BJ2-8.jpg Scene #4 (Submerged) Once underwater, the second chorus begins. Various shots, including Lana gracefully swimming underwater with the crocodile near her and close-up shots of her singing while water ripples over her are shown. Lana and Bradley swim to each other and embrace, before kissing. BJ2-9.jpg BJ2-10.jpg BJ2-11.jpg Scene #5 (Crocodiles) With the beginning of the bridge, the shot of Lana swimming underwater includes many more crocodiles. Soon, shots of Bradley and a crocodile rapidly switch, indicating that they are the same entity. Eventually, Lana embraces only the crocodile. Shots of Lana rippling against the black pool background, Bradley, Lana singing underwater, and Lana swimming with the crocodiles begin to rapidly change before Bradley pushes Lana underwater. BJ2-12.jpg BJ2-13.jpg BJ2-14.jpg Scene #6 (Embrace) After coming up for air, Bradley is shown holding Lana in an embrace while the two slowly twirl in the water. In the end, Bradley holds Lana by the throat while the two begin to sink. The video ends with the music slowed down and them completely submerged. BJ2-15.jpg BJ2-16.jpg Behind the Scenes BJB1.jpg BJB2.jpg BJB3.jpg Behind6.jpg Behind1.jpg Behind5.jpg Behind4.jpg Behind3.jpg Behind2.jpg BJ Behind the Scenes.jpg Photoshoot by Nicole Nodland (March 2, 2012) BJP8.jpg BJ P7.jpg BJP9.jpg| BJP10.jpg| BJ P4 Final.jpg| BJP4.jpg BJ P1 Final.jpg| BJP1.jpg BJP6.jpg BJP3.jpg BJ P2.jpg NN BJ 8.jpg NN BJ 9.png| NN BJ 9.jpg| *Camera - EOS 5D Mark II *Camera manufacturer - Canon *Stylist - Unknown BJ_single.jpg| BJ_12-2.jpeg| BJ_itunes.jpg| BJ_12.jpg| Paradise_EP.jpg| BTDPE.jpg| Lyrics Album version Demo version Credits Personnel *Keyboards — Emile Haynie *Guitar — Emile Haynie *Drums — Emile Haynie *Strings arrangment and conducting — Dan Heath *Mixing — Dan grech Marguerat for 365 Artists *Assistant mixing — Duncan Fuller References Category:Born to Die songs Category:Born to Die singles Category:Singles Category:Videos Category:Born to Die videos Category:Songs Category:Music videos Category:Paradise Tour songs Category:Endless Summer Tour songs Category:Born to Die Tour songs